What do you think of having a robot that you control using mobile phone technology do whatever you want? You could contact a robot rental place in say, New York, use the internet or your specially enabled phone to control the robot from Dublin. Make it walk, grab, purchase things, go to a meeting for you. You have the experience of being in the place without the cost/hasstle/danger. You see and hear everything the robot does. You could have a screen for the face that is a live video of your face. Have documents scanned/printed by the robot's on-board machines. Interview people with relative independance. Great for TV crews covering war stories. Send it to the office if you can't get in. Robot connects to your PC so you can access your work files. Chat to your work mates in the canteen. Who knows? Maybe the streets of the future will be 50% populated by these robot people replacers. Adds new meaning to telecommuting! Have the robot drive your car... I could go on!-- waltzer, May 02 2000 Personal Roving Presence http://www.prop.org/Eric Paulos has been working on this stuff for years. [Eeyore, May 02 2000] Your robot could interact with other people's robots. A double-virtual experience. Or, you could be controlling a robot, and have it call up and rent another robot, that IT would be controlling...-- dean, May 02 2000 Like the story below. This is an excellent idea for the disabled.
Also a great thing for couch potatoes and agoraphobics.....-- BigThor, Aug 04 2000 I was thinking of adding an idea exactly like this. This would be an excellent option for business people who have a meeting in another city. The rentable robot would save time and be cheaper than an airplane flight.
It might be too expensive for some of the other uses that were suggested, but it is still a good idea.-- Ken Chanaud, Aug 27 2008 <facetiousness> What a great idea! Please, now, tell us how such things will be built. </facetiousness>
Magic.-- MikeD, Aug 27 2008 [Mike D], how did you stumble over this oldie? Was it the "random" button, or were you researching robots like the ones that the press are telling us they are supplying in Iraq?
(normzone goes off to search for more Beastie Boys / Mike D references)-- normzone, Aug 27 2008 random, halfbakery